Key takeaways
- Professional sports represent a sought-after investment sector, with valuations continuing to climb.
- There are a growing number of investment opportunities in emerging sports like pickleball, lacrosse, and women’s soccer.
- New investors are entering space, including current and former athletes, private equity firms, and high-net-worth individuals.
- Tech investors can help sports leagues use new means to monetize IP and expand fan bases.
- Emerging sports leagues can be nimbler and more innovative in how they build visibility and reward players.
- More dealmaking in emerging sports leagues is expected in 2026.
In Depth
Professional sports is currently one of the hottest sectors in the United States, as enterprise valuations of teams continue to dramatically increase. Historically, the preserve of ultra-high-net-worth individuals where investment opportunities arose once in a generation, the relaxation of league shareholding rules, and a growing appetite among institutional investors have fueled a robust and vibrant deal environment.
In August 2025, McDermott Will & Schulte represented Aditya Mittal and trustees of the Mittal family trusts as part of a buying group led by William Chisholm that acquired the National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics for $6.1 billion. At the time, it was the largest sale of a US professional sports team in history. But the value of professional sports sector deals continues to climb, boosted by eye-popping media deals and investors attracted to stable revenue streams and loyal fan bases.
As high valuations continue to bring more sellers to market in the big four US professional sports of football, basketball, hockey, and baseball, investors that do not have billions at their disposal are starting to look deeper into the sector. We are seeing the interest in emerging sports increasing as investors continue to look for new angles and networks remain hungry for sports content to satisfy viewers.
All eyes on emerging sports
So, what are those emerging sports presenting attractive investment opportunities? Pickleball, lacrosse, women’s soccer, padel, bull riding, drone racing, and various forms of football (such as flag football, spring football, and women’s football) are all gaining momentum. We recently closed a transaction in women’s volleyball, now one of the most popular women’s sports in the US.
As the range of opportunities grows, the range of investors accessing the sector is also diversifying. Anyone with capital is now able to participate.
We have seen many deals spearheaded by current and former athletes. Magic Johnson, a Los Angeles Lakers legend, was a trailblazer in showing professional athletes that they can use their fame and money to lead lucrative investing careers once their playing days are over. As the salary cap increases across top professional sports leagues to keep up with the league’s revenue, professional athletes have more money to spend.
Smartly, and with the right advice, athletes are realizing that with any investment, starting earlier is better. Even before making it to the professional ranks, name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals are affording college athletes the ability to make money and subsequently invest where they see fit, including in emerging sports.
Paige Bueckers, a star on University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team, recently received equity in Unrivaled, a new three-on-three basketball league, in connection with signing an NIL deal.
Not only do current and former athletes have capital, but they also add value to these leagues. For example, Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant and tennis pro Naomi Osaka are becoming the unofficial faces of pickleball while former professional women’s basketball player Candace Parker’s investment in the National Women’s Soccer League’s Angel City FC allows them to leverage her personal brand and increase visibility for the team.
Private equity firms, which have entered the top US sports leagues in the last five years, are also starting to enter emerging sports. We have already seen deals completed in the National Women’s Soccer League, the Professional Fighters League, lacrosse, padel, and SailGP, the new global sailing competition.
There is a growing opportunity for high-net-worth individuals, too. While ownership in the top sports leagues is reserved for those with net worths over the billion-dollar range, individuals who have substantial wealth at a slightly lower level are using emerging sports as a new way to deploy capital.
The rules of the major professional sports leagues include express protection for control owners to ensure team and league stability. Private equity investors must hold passive stakes and, in general, most control owners would prefer that any new investors in their capital tables take a passive role.
By contrast, emerging leagues are looking for active investors that can help them grow the sport. Synergies via partnerships, brand recognition, and past success in the sports business arena are characteristics that emerging sports leagues are looking for in an investor.
Technology in sports
Successful Silicon Valley tech investors have become a large portion of the investor pool for sports teams because of their accomplishments, capital, and ability to provide synergistic value. Sports are intellectual property (IP), and technology is the most efficient method for monetizing this IP.
Technology connects people so that a league based in the US can establish a global audience. The technology can be as straightforward as having players mic’d up during a game or as in-depth as using artificial intelligence to obtain fan data that can subsequently be used to pitch sponsorships, enhance the fan experience, and direct marketing according to fans’ personalized data sets.
A win-win opportunity
The major professional sports leagues are firmly established, but emerging sports leagues have the room and passion to innovate and shape their sports – both on the field and off – to cater to a modern audience. Like the top sports leagues, media contracts will be a significant driver of success. With the right visibility, an emerging sports league can explode overnight.
There is no better example than pickleball. Rarely do you find a sport that can be played by both a 70-year-old and a 10-year-old. Pickleball is popping up all over the country, including on our TVs, and investors see an incredible opportunity to monetize that.
With the right visibility, an emerging sports league can explode overnight.
Certain emerging sports leagues, like the Premier Lacrosse League, which recently signed a long-term contract with ESPN, are sharing the league’s upside potential with their players via creative player equity participation programs. These are possible because emerging sports leagues are more nimble, less focused on rules and regulations, and more focused on pure growth. The lack of league red tape allows emerging sports leagues to scale at a faster rate with rapid decision-making.
Conclusion
The top professional sports leagues are not taking their foot off the gas, and fighting for fan time, attention, and money will not be easy for emerging sports leagues. But these new leagues are taking advantage of a fast-evolving media landscape that provides multiple ways for fans to consume sports in order to break through to their fan base.
These emerging leagues are looking for enthusiastic, proven, strategic investors to help them find and expand their market, and investors are increasingly looking for these opportunities to get in on the “next big thing” in sports. We expect more deals to take place in 2026 as dealmakers broaden their horizons and the scope of the opportunity within the sports sector continues to rise.
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